


song-based drabbles

by Thebloomaster



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Sad Ending, some are happy endings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29207952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thebloomaster/pseuds/Thebloomaster
Summary: Collection of one-shots prompted by random songs. Different AUs. Probably will be mostly puzzleshipping/blindshipping.
Relationships: Atem & Mutou Yuugi, Atem/Mutou Yuugi, Mutou Yuugi & Yami Yuugi, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 7





	1. Pictures of You

Pictures of You - The Cure

Yuugi can’t look at any pictures of himself and his best friend. Because there are none. There are no tangible pictures of them together because they only exist in Yuugi’s memory. He has to refrain from replaying every moment on repeat lest they become corrupted. Every day Atem slips further into the past. Yuugi drags him back to the present when he can, but every day it is harder and some days it’s too painful altogether. He just has a piece of the puzzle and Atem’s name to remember him by along with an empty chamber in his heart. He allows himself to remember Atem’s smile. 

Knowing that Atem is finally reunited with his loved ones should be enough. Knowing that Yuugi’s remaining friends love him should be enough. But it never is.

He’s destroyed their bond along with himself and there’s no one who will ever understand how shattered he is. His soul might as well not be in his body—he wonders if anyone would notice a difference. He used to _live_ and he’s only realized what it means to live until now when he’s sure that what he's doing now isn’t living. 

Everything he does is half-hearted in every sense of the word. He can try to fill the void in his life, but there will always be an Atem-shaped hole in his heart and an empty picture frame on his desk. 


	2. Better Than Love

Better Than Love - Hayley Kiyoko

There’s something unnatural about stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. To stand still instead of walking, but Yuugi can’t trek any further. The errand he was to run is trivial. Soon he and the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle will meet their destiny, and he is getting the loaf of bread his grandfather has asked for. It’s warm.

Yuugi is frozen in time as if his soul was the one sealed away. It might as well be. He’s sealed himself in fear. His other heart asks why he’s stopped, he doesn’t have an answer. Not one that makes sense, anyway. People gawk at him as they walk by. 

The spirit reads his feelings better than he can at this moment. “I understand. I don’t want to leave you either.” 

Yuugi can only bite his tongue behind the smile he offers. He has to remember that he’s creating a roadblock of himself and to become a crying one would be too much. He remembers his task and holds out a hand. He knows the spirit is holding it without looking. To declare his love in this moment would be wrong and unfair, so he doesn’t say a word. 

It was one of the longest minutes of his life.

It’s surreal when Yuugi and Atem walk together past this same spot, hand in hand. This time Yuugi tells him as if Atem hasn’t heard him say it thousands of times before. 


	3. I'm Just A Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one's actually 100 words

I’m Just a Kid - Simple Plan

When there are no more distractions Yuugi feels like he’s seventeen again. He’s finished his last project. There’s not a single notification on his phone, no updates to draw his attention away from the fact that his one heart is insufficient. It beats only because it has to. It’s been years. He could call a friend but it won’t be the voice he wants to hear anyway.

A coworker bought him a puzzle. He’s feeling masochistic today and does it just as a distraction. Maybe he never grew up, because he still makes a wish as he puts it together.


	4. Cigarette Daydreams

Cigarette Daydreams - Cage The Elephant

“Those things will kill you, Aibou.”

Yuugi drops the cigarette he’s been carefully shielding from the rain, coughing out smoke from the drag he’s just taken. Through the fog and smoke he sees a familiar silhouette. He’s smoking a  _ cigarette _ . It’s just  _ nicotine _ . How could he be hallucinating right now?

But then he hears the footsteps, splashing in the puddles, stamping the last glimmer of life from the discarded cigarette.

“But you—” Yuugi falters. His gaze hardens as he grasps the figure in front of him. “I—You...left—”

“I did.” 

Their eyes meet. Yuugi’s have become hardened, distrustful of the figure in front of him. “It 

can’t be you.” He searches for a flaw, a discrepancy between the Atem before him and the Atem he remembers. 

“It is me.” His voice softens.

“You came back from the  _ afterlife  _ to warn me about the dangers of smoking?” 

“It certainly appears that way.”

“How do I know…” Yuugi trails off.

“That it’s really me?” Atem finishes. “Do you remember the eighth of February?”

Yuugi flushes.

“Let’s see how it feels outside of the soul room.” Atem tilts Yuugi’s chin to face him as they 

both lean in for a kiss. It’s soft. 

“Oh my gods.” Yuugi breathes. The life in his eyes returns. “Atem.” 

“Yes.” He nods, grinning. He looks Yuugi up and down. “You’re all wet.”

“There’s an awning.”

“And you’re not under it.”

“How long are you—” Yuugi cuts himself off. “ _ Why?” _

“I know how long I’ll be here or why I’m here as much as you know those things about yourself.” He shrugs nonchalantly as if he hadn’t just conquered death through some sort of loophole. “So don’t shorten it by standing in the bad weather filling yourself with smoke.”


End file.
